Nationwide, there’s a lot on the line in 2022 mid-term elections. 435 House races are at stake. The Dems hold a 220-212 majority. GOP’s hopeful of a “Red Wave” to change that ratio. There are 36 gubernatorial seats up for grabs. Dems are facing stiff opposition in key states like Michigan, Kansas, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Governor Ron DeSantis must vanquish his old nemesis Charlie Crist before eyeing a 2024 presidential run. In Georgia there’s a rematch between Governor Kemp and Stacey Abrams, reminiscent of 2018. Liberty’s in there somewhere.
Even though the Supreme Court dismantled Roe v. Wade, abortion rights are on some state’s referendums, clawing back for the right to kill babies. The GOP’s anticipating Trump’s announcement of his 2024 run, after mid-terms. Conservative’s are salivating over the prospects of taking both Houses, if the “Red Wave” materializes.
Watch Congress launch into a mad rush to pass radical legislation, while they still hold majorities in the House and Senate. Will it open the door to ousting Democrats who’ve supported Biden’s disastrous social and economic policies? Pundits still inquire, “What’s behind this Trump phenomena?” Was it destiny? Vertiginous events? Evangelicals, as a block of voters, believed God was ultimately behind it. Will Trump have the “Religious Right” solidly behind him again? What about election integrity?
What’s God’s yardstick for ordinary mortals at a time like this? We know it’s not perfection. History’s rife with examples of rouges, kings, monarchs, presidents and commoners, willing step up, for such a time, and find a role in God’s economy. In Habakkuk, God used the wicked Babylonians. Cyrus the Great, the “Law-giver” was putty in God’s Hands. He still uses flawed people. Good news for us.
For historic perspective, many conservatives are convinced Ronald Reagan came just in time to rescue us from Jimmy Carter’s feckless administration, and stubborn long gas lines. Eisenhower purportedly ushered in a “time of peace.” FDR’s successor Harry Truman had the fortitude to drop atomic bombs on Japan that ended WWII. These events beg the question, “Is it a matter of timing?” And what’s at play? Is it “invisible forces” that orchestrate these events? Is it the “Hand of God” having His way with mere mortals? Is it inexplicable? Just as the Lord was with 30 year old Joseph, in Potiphar’s house, after being sold into slavery, he was second in command in all Egypt.
Democrats are forced to face the fact that neither Biden or Harris inspire Progressive voters. With that backdrop, some Democrat strategist are whispering that the time may be right for current Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, to consider a run for the White House, in 2024. Some may recall in 2019, there was the unprecedented photo of then Mayor Buttigieg, embracing his “husband” emblazoned on Time Magazine’s cover, titled, “First Family.”
A recent 2022, Gallup Poll indicate U.S. support for same sex marriage has inched up to a new high of 71%. The figure was 27% in their first poll on the issue in 1996. Those figures are troubling for those whose moral compass still points True North. Notably, Gallup pollsters report that those who attend church weekly remain the primary demographic holdout against gay marriage, with 58% opposed same sex marriage. There appears, according to their pollsters, that there’s a correlation between regular church attendance and favoring traditional marriage between a man and woman. Trends since 2004, find that those who seldom attend church, or not at all, have always been supportive of same sex marriage. Will the righteous remain strong in opposition?
President Obama, in 2011, said his administration wouldn’t defend DOMA, the federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Franklin Graham, at the time of the “First Family” photo, tweeted that being gay is “something to be repented of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized.” Will mainstream voters embrace a homosexual president and his “first husband” in the White House? If the Gallup Polls are accurate, it’s cause for us to stand against such perversion.
God, even under tyranny, never leaves Himself without a voice under the worst of human oppression. In 1943, a 39 year old theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a key founding member of the Confessing Church, was arrested for refusing to be silenced under Hitler’s regime in Germany. It cost him his life in 1945, by hanging. A noble cause for righteous resistance to the Nazi dictatorship. Was Bonhoeffer born for such a time?
Antiquities tell us that Louis XIV, was the divine-right monarch, who ruled France from 1643 to 1715. He believed himself to be God’s agent on earth, and to challenge him was to challenge God. What would our response be to a candidate for office today who dared say that? Was Dr. Martin Luther King born for “just this moment?” Was he a megalomaniac, or a preacher led by the Holy Spirit? Was his speech, “I Have A Dream” actually an anointed sermon, a call for God’s justice and repentance for our nation?
The Old Testament Book of Esther, set in the Persian Empire, is under the reign of Ahasuerus, more familiarly known by the Greek name of Xerxes I, the son of Darius the Great, around 475 B.C., provides context for the “hand of God” in the lives of mere mortals. The book offers a compelling story of the impact of a brave, Godly woman, though God is never mentioned in the book. She prevailed over villainous Haman, who was intent on the genocide of the Jews. The most famous line from the book is from Mordecai, her advocate, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows whether you have come for such a time as this?”
Adherents of Scripture know that God had Esther in the right place, at the right time to deliver His people. She demonstrated that we all have defining moments, when we are called to stand, even though we’re uncertain of the outcome of such an act. Like many of us, this young Jewish girl likely had no idea of the outcome of her choices. She’s still in our conversation nearly twenty-five hundred years later.
In Natrona County, one must find one’s voice, as we are called to exercise our First Amendment in the public square, to push back against the tide of a rapidly shifting culture, leaving behind a landscape nearly unrecognizable. We aren’t called to answer for others. Now’s the time for one to ask those three penetrating questions to gauge one’s calling. “What keeps you awake a night? What makes your heart beat faster? And, for what noble cause would you spend time behind bars?”
Dare we remain silent? We’re born “for such a time as this?” The end game isn’t fame. Rather a higher prize, that those in Christ may hear, someday, down Eternity’s long corridor, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” What do you think?
Mike Pyatt’s a Natrona County resident. HIs email’s mikepyatt44@gmail.com
